


is this the first time that you've ever seen

by hirokiyuu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Kingdom Hearts AU, M/M, sorry this is for a winterfes but i wrote smth vaguely horror adjacent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:13:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirokiyuu/pseuds/hirokiyuu
Summary: Six and a half months before their home is swallowed by darkness, Izumi goes looking for Ritsu on the play island.
Relationships: Sakuma Ritsu/Sena Izumi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: RitsuIzu Winter Festival





	is this the first time that you've ever seen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ritsuizuleo (nightfullofstars)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightfullofstars/gifts).



> emi ive written a lot of fic blatantly catering to you but this is VERY blatant catering to u. i hope u enjoy. also i hope everyone who likes rtiz enjoys but Emi This One's For You
> 
> all my love to almond for the beta!! 
> 
> title's from lemon demon's aurora borealis, which i lsitened to pretty much on repeat the entire time

It never snows on the islands, even in the dead of winter, but past sundown and the chill the sea breeze brings is unbearable regardless of however one is dressed. Izumi, unfortunately, knows this first-hand, either from evening bonfires that went too long or from someone’s (usually Leo’s) genius idea to sneak out in the dead of night for no good reason, and every time it happens he shoves his hands into his pockets and swears that  _ this  _ time will be the last.

This time’s particularly annoying, because it wasn’t even his fault at all. Ritsu’s the idiot who’d fallen asleep first, all leaning on Izumi’s shoulder and pressing up against his side, and in the warm afternoon sun with a personal space heater it had been just comfortable enough Izumi couldn’t help following suit.

And naturally the nocturnal freak woke up when the sun went down and left somewhere, so when Izumi opens his eyes it’s to a dark cabin alone in the trees, which is definitely his favorite way to wake up, so thanks for that,  _ Kuma-kun. _ Still grumbling under his breath Izumi stands, stretches, hears his neck crack far more loudly than he’d prefer. At least there’s no sand down his shirt, so there’s one small mercy. 

He jams his hands into his pockets and shoulders his way outside, watches his breath come in little puffs in the cold air. Outside the sky is perfectly clear, all distant stars and a moon hanging sliver-thin in the distance, dark enough that from his vantage point halfway up the bridge he can only barely see the figure standing in the waves. If that idiot really took his shoes off to stick his feet in the water at whatever o’clock in the goddamn night, Izumi really is gonna lose it on him. “Moron,” Izumi mutters as he heads down, “idiot, annoying loser, stupid….”

The grousing keeps him warm to the shoreline, all the way to where Ritsu’s shoes are, in fact, lying haphazard in the sand, their owner up to his calves in the water, pants rolled up past the knee. “Oiii,” Izumi calls, and shoves his face further into his neck as a gust comes over the water. “Kuma-kun, idiot, we need to go home. You’re gonna catch a cold.”

He’s waiting for some stupid bullshit about  _ Vampires don’t catch colds, Secchan,  _ that it takes Ritsu’s silence a second to register. “Kuma-kun?” he calls out. Ritsu doesn’t move. Izumi’s lips part; there’s a moment where hesitation holds him in place before he takes a step forward. “Kuma-kun, hey--”

Ritsu turns. 

Again Izumi is arrested. The water is a dark and hungry thing, but somehow, somehow, Ritsu looks like he… belongs. Like he was born there, or like he’ll live there, or maybe like he’ll die there. Like there’s no place for Ritsu but the dark. There’s a prickling feeling in Izumi’s spine; his lips have gone dry. “Kuma-kun?” he says, one more time.

And then Ritsu -- smiles, tilts his head, says, “Morning, Secchan.” He starts to slosh his way up out from the surf, darkness parting around his pale calves. “You sure slept a long time.”

“You’re the last person I want to hear that from,” Izumi snaps automatically, watching Ritsu grab his shoes and start barefoot across the sand. “What -- what the hell were you doing in the water, anyways? We don’t have a towel with us, idiot.”

Ritsu gives a shrug, pushes past Izumi towards the docks, still smiling his usual lazy smile. “I dunno,” he says, voice lilting through the air. “It just looked nice, I guess.”

“Weirdo.” It’s a response without thought; Izumi’s eyes have strayed back to the sea behind them and its dark dark expanse. In his pockets he’s got his hands balled into fists. “If you freeze to death it’s your own fault, got it? I had nothing to do with it.”

“Secchan’s too nice to let me die.”

“Don’t be stupid.” The water laps at the sand; Izumi can’t tear his eyes away. In, out, in, out. The waves are crawling ever closer. “I’m gonna take the boat for myself and make you swim back to shore.”

That makes Ritsu laugh, and Ritsu’s laughter makes Izumi turn his head. He’s paused halfway to the docks, and this time his eyes have caught the starlight. Izumi’s breath catches this time for an entirely different reason, one he can’t name. “No, you won’t,” he says, tilting his head, and smiling glittering warmth. “Not Secchan.”

Izumi’s lips part. Behind him the waves are just waves; any fear has left him in light of Ritsu’s grin. “Idiot,” he says, biting down on the way his mouth wants to twist up, and heart in throat he moves forward so the two of them can walk side-by-side.

**Author's Note:**

> can u believe i wrote this shit in two hrs total. one hr writing (sleeps) one hr editing. im madman.
> 
> catch me on @hirokiyuu on tumblr or @ravheoli on twit to chat!


End file.
